Yates has been living with me for one year. We celebrated the anniversary on May 13th which marked the exact day I brought him home. It has been quite a year and I am so grateful I had Yates by my side. 

Lately, on our daily walks I have been reflecting on the last year. At the forefront of my mind has been the fact that when Yates is in his vest, when we are out and about, that says to the public that I have a disability and I am assisted with a Can-Do-Canine. For me, that has probably been the biggest adjustment. I remember when I had my interview with Sarah from Can-Do-Canines and she asked me how I felt about making my invisible disability visible. At the time, I had not really thought a lot about what that would mean to me. I know I tried to assure Sarah that I would be fine with it; however, the experience of actually making it visible had some pluses and minuses for me emotionally.

Some history is needed to understand why that was an adjustment. Around the time that I received the diagnosis that my hearing loss was progressive and I would probably be deaf by the time I was 50, I also discovered by accident that I was lipreading.  Apparently I was unconsciously adjusting to losing my hearing and adapting with visual clues. Eventually I came to rely on lipreading. I wore hearing aids, but they did not give me quality hearing that I could use to decipher speech. During those years, when necessary, I would tell whomever I was communicating with that I needed to see their face so I could read their lips. Thousands of times I had to say, “I’m hearing impaired and read lips.” Fessing up to my disability was something I often had to do, but it wore on me. So it remained invisible as much as I could manage to cover it up.

In 2001, when I was 44, my hearing loss had progressed to severe/profound and I qualified to receive a cochlear implant. It was a relief to have doctors finally say there was something that could be done and might help. The cochlear implant was a great success and gave me sounds that I had not heard in years. In many situations speech sounds were getting through and I could understand more conversation. Life began to change and communication got a lot easier. The cochlear implant eliminated my constant need to tell people that I am hearing impaired and I need to see their face for lip reading. It was great to have more choice on when to reveal my disability because I could get through many situations with the sounds I get from my bionic ears.

As wonderful as my bionic ears are, they are not on all the time. I felt a gap in the independence I had gained from family assistance. I realized I wanted more independence when my “ears” are off and I’m in my silent world. For instance, I wanted to be comfortable traveling by myself. Sleeping in a hotel room without a hearing person present was uncomfortable knowing I would not wake to a smoke alarm, knocking on the door, or a phone ringing. With this in mind I searched for options and found Can-Do-Canines and I applied for a hearing assistance dog. 

I was matched with Yates in May of 2020 and I was able to bring him home on the 13th of May. Also in May of 2020, recommendations to wear face masks to slow the spread of the virus, covid-19, had been made to the public. 

Though I hear well with my cochlear implants masks were muffling speech, and I soon discovered that I still read lips. More so than I realized until I was faced with people everywhere wearing face coverings. Not only did I feel a great disconnect from society, I myself couldn’t wear a face mask. When attempting to shop I was confronted with people asking if I had a mask. More often than not, with their speech muffled by a mask, I could not understand what they were saying. I had to resort to telling them “I read lips”  and in some instances they would pull their mask down to communicate with me. There were other events where I was actually not allowed to enter the store. Stores that I will never shop in again due to their lack of sensitivity to the hearing impaired. 

During the dark days of masks, I was training with Yates to work towards our certification. When we practiced being out in public and would go into stores together, Yates in his cape was a visual clue to the store employees that I have a disability and therefore I was exempt from the mask mandate. I was only asked once if I had a mask when I had Yates with me. People often noticed Yates first and I sometimes could see the smile in their eyes when they saw him with me. 

Making my disability visible this way was hard for me at first. I had many years where I could breeze through an event or activity without revealing that I hear with a cochlear implant system.  I enjoyed not having to share that part of me. On the flip side, making my disability visible through Yates during the mask mandate made things easier for me. Over time and with more public outings with Yates, I relaxed and having Yates with me became a comfort. He eased the stress I felt being in a masked world.

A year like no other has passed. I find myself amazed at God’s timing. He gifted me with Yates.  Yates in his shiny black coat, head held high, and tail wagging has served as a ray of light in a dark time.